“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes… including you.”

Ann Lamott

Do you ever have that feeling that you just need to reset your entire life?

That was definitely me recently. I was insanely busy at work, with event after event. My apartment was a mess. I was eating terribly, not exercising and exhausted all the time. I was having trouble doing anything I liked: I wasn’t sewing, I wasn’t reading. I mostly found myself coming home from work and just sitting on my couch staring into space for periods of time.

This was a sure time that it was time for reset. This past weekend was Memorial Day weekend, a time that I traditionally go upstate to spend time with family. This year, for the first time in a long time, I decided not to. Instead, I chose to be utterly, completely selfish and stay home and do things for me.

First off, I got some sewing done. With everything else going on, this was something that had fallen by the wayside, and something I missed desperately. The thing is, sewing calms me down (something I’ll be talking more about in an upcoming post), and when I can’t get a lot of it done, I go crazy. Unfortunately it also takes up time, and I just didn’t have any spare time this month. My brains and hands were itching to get sewing, and to work on the mounting pile of personal projects that have been building up recently. This weekend thankfully changed that. I was able to sit down at the sewing machine and churn out some projects in my unfinished pile, as well as almost complete an entirely new dress. If all goes well this week, that dress will be featured in my makes posts coming up next week.

The weekend also gave me time to get started on my entry for the Made Like Maisel contest on Instagram that I am participating in. For more details, head on over there and look up the hashtag #madelikemaisel – the gist is to create something 50’s inspired. I am working on recreating Midge’s blue dress from the final Catskills episode of season two. I’m working with a lot of different fabrics to recreate the dress, including taffeta and chiffon. I’m using the Sew Over It Betty Dress, and making some alterations. I won’t say too much more here as I’ll be doing a full post on the making of the dress once it’s finished and entered into the contest. And just so you have a little reminder of what the dress looks like, here’s the original:

I got a jumpstart on the deep-clean I want to do with my apartment. It’s still in relatively bad shape, but it’s also a state of progress. I’m gathering items to giveaway or donate, and decluttering the apartment. I also managed to get the bathroom and kitchen spotless, and prep my lunch for the week.

Sunday morning I was up early, so I took advantage of an empty laundry room in my building and did a ton of laundry. Like, every piece of cloth in my house ton of laundry. I recently bought new sheets and finally washed them so they could be put to good use. I got my bedroom into tip top shape which actually helps me sleep better sometimes.

I wish I could say I did a little bit more towards changing how terribly I’ve been eating. I’m always going to be a work in progress in this department. It’s just so easy to order food when you’re sitting at home sewing and don’t want to take a break. Same with exercise. I never want to stop my projects to get any done, so I’ll need to revamp my plan of attack for this in the future.

Monday, Memorial Day, I decided to head out of the house and go with my school’s marching band and cheerleaders to a parade they were participating in. Though it was quite warm out, it was nice to get out of the house and walk a bit, getting a little movement into my weekend.

This weekend reset did wonders for my psyche, and gave me the stamina to face the very busy last five weeks of the school year! So how about you? What are your favorite ways to reset.